Northwestern State’s Jeremy Lane to Visit the Houston Texans

Criminal justice major and defensive back for the Northwestern State University Demons, Jeremy Lane, will visit the Houston Texans on April 1st for a facility visit and pre-draft preliminaries with coaches. Born July 14th 1990 and it’s no surprise that Lane, the Tyler Texas product was a high school track star along with all-district performances on the gridiron. 

The Houston Texans were one of several teams at Northwestern State’s pro day on Thursday. One of the Demons’ focal attractions happened to be CB Jeremy Lane the Northwestern State corner would definitely fill a need at the cornerback position with the Texans as depth has recently become an issue with the recent free agency departure of Jason Allen.

At 180 pounds Lane would likely need to add some extra weight in preparation for competition at the next level. At Thursday’s pro day Lane was best in four categories (including a 4.48 40-yard dash and a 42-inch vertical leap) and improved his marks in five tests (40, vertical jump, a 10-10 broad jump, a 4.14 20-yard shuttle, and 12 consecutive 225-pound bench presses) since a workout earlier this month at Louisiana-Lafayette. Lane’s whose press man coverage ability has some draft analysts projecting a possible mid round pick during the upcoming NFL draft.

Jeremy Lane left Thursday’s pro day feeling good about his workout by stating,“I think I did pretty well today. All my numbers improved,” said Lane, a Tyler, Texas-John Tyler product. “I didn’t do as well in the position drills as I did earlier in my last Pro Day at Lafayette. I think I was a little uptight today, but overall I felt good about it. I’m very blessed to be in the position I am in right now, and I’m trying to keep striving to make it in the league.”

Greg Gabriel of the National Football Post had this to say in regards to Lane’s performance last season against highly ranked LSU in Death Valley,

"“Jeremy Lane looked like he belonged on the same field when his squad faced LSU.”"

The Northwestern State defensive back was invited to play in both the NFLPA ALL-Star Classic and the Casino Del Sol All-Star Game in which Lane was elected defensive MVP in Tucson Arizona with 8 tackles and 2 pass break-ups.

Of the NFL teams confirmed to have attended Northwestern State’s Pro-Day Lane has visits scheduled with the Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, San Diego Chargers, along with the Houston Texans.

Alex Brown of Optimumscouting.com had this to say about Lane after a watchful eye at the NFLPA All-Star Classic in Little Rock Arkansas.

"“From a talent perspective, there weren’t many players at this event that were Jeremy Lane’s equal. Long armed, lean bodied, explosive athlete that can jam with success against any type of receiver, turns and runs off the jam with sticky man coverage, and aggressively attacks the ball in air. Has the frame to get up to 190 lbs. and still hasn’t reached his potential in coverage, needing to clean up his footwork in off man coverage.”"

Lane’s workout numbers earlier this month at Louisiana-Lafayette were as follows: 4.53 and 4.56 40-yard dashes and had a 39.5 vertical leap, 10-8 broad jump, 4.32 shuttle. 7.02 three-cone, and 12 bench press reps.

Lane is also drawing comparisons to former Louisiana-Lafayette standout Ike Taylor. Lane could be drafted as high as the 4th round but will likely be a third-day pick and at worst will end up a nickel corner in the NFL. It is believed that NFL analyst Russ Lande’s draft rankings are rarely swayed by the popular consensus and Jeremy Lane’s ranking of #83 on Lande’s Top 100 is a prime example of such.

Feel free to shoot me any questions on twitter at @j0eo1s